


The Morning After

by TheNerdyTurtle96



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Even though the title kind of looks like it, Gen, Hermits being awesome people, Modern AU kind of, Storm Damage, Thunderstorms, Yes there's llamas, no shipping intended, not smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26000899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdyTurtle96/pseuds/TheNerdyTurtle96
Summary: Etho and Beef have a happy life out on their llama ranch. A huge storm might have caused a lot of damage, but their friends are there to support them.(Please read author's note at end for more context and a small story.)
Kudos: 34





	The Morning After

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of a modern AU where most of the hermits live in a city and they’re all friends. The shipping is up to your interpretation, since it’s really not the main focus. Small trigger warnings, I guess, for mentions of thunder and lightning and storm damage. Also, if you thought that this was smut from the title, well, I’ve tricked you real good!

It was the middle of a hot August and Etho and Beef were extremely busy. Most of their friends lived in the city, but the two of them liked the peace and quiet that living out in the country provided. Plus, they ran a llama ranch on 20 acres of land, which had been a longtime dream for both of them. Etho had a job that split his time between home and an office in the city while Beef took care of the llamas full time. Together, they had a wonderful life out in the beauty of nature.

Normally, August wasn’t a busy month, since the llamas didn’t need to be sheared and the animals could graze out in the pastures all day. However, the weather radar showed a huge storm coming their way one particular Monday and the two men had a lot of work to do in order to be ready for it. All of the vehicles needed to be driven inside the reinforced garage, the llamas had to be corralled into the main barn, and water needed to be stocked up in case the water mains shut off. Thankfully, both of their generators had been tested a few days before and they had plenty of gasoline to power them. The skies quickly darkened and the wind started to pick up just as the last of the outdoor tasks was completed. 

The weather report had also warned of extremely high winds, so as soon as Beef came inside, Etho was busy boarding up all of their glass windows and doors. Soon, the beginning of the rain was audible and Beef breathed a sigh of relief once all of their preparation was complete. Heading downstairs to the living area in the basement, he joined Etho on the couch and the two sat back to watch the evening news. The anchor droned through various crime reports from the city, a small story about the high school football team, and a check-in on the weather. Nothing had really changed from the previous report: their ranch was expected to get hit fairly hard. The two of them had weathered bad thunderstorms before, though. 

That’s why when the lights and the television flicked off, plunging the basement into darkness, Etho was already in the process of lighting several candles and placing them inside lanterns. It was still rather dark, but it was a step up from pitch black. Beef also turned on their special, battery-powered radio for when the power went out and tuned it to the weather channel. Muffled thunder could be heard piercing the howling of the wind, which set Beef slightly on edge. Sure, this wasn’t the first thunderstorm he had experienced out here, but it wasn’t something you got completely used to. Etho, who hated thunder and loud noises in general, was shaking quite a bit and Beef reassuringly wrapped an arm around his friend. 

Knowing that they had done everything they could for now, the two allowed themselves to relax and eventually drift off to sleep. The swoosh of the wind and the pounding of the rain was steady and rhythmic, although the ugly crashes of thunder and lightning woke Etho up several times. Huddled together on the oversized couch, they managed to make it through the long night and get a bit of sleep.

\----------

Once the morning came, the storm finally ended and Etho and Beef deemed it safe to leave their fortified basement. Nothing on the main floor of the house appeared to be damaged except for some puddles of water under the kitchen windows, but the water and power were still off. Both men pulled on their outdoor work boots and long pants before daring to venture outside. Since the air-conditioning had also shut off several hours ago, the house’s temperature had been steadily rising, but a blast of hot and humid air still caught the two a bit surprised as they opened up the back door. 

The first thing that they checked on was the llamas in the barn. Thankfully, all of the llamas were safe and unharmed, although most of them, especially the young ones, were still quite frightened. Next, Beef worked on getting a generator started so that they could run a few electrical appliances while Etho inspected the outside of the house. Some of the glass windows had cracks in them, but none of them had been broken, which was a good sign. Something else caught his eye after a few moments and Etho blinked several times in surprise.

“Holy crap,” he muttered. Beef, who had gotten the generator started and fueled, walked over and inspected his friend’s concerned face.

“What’s wrong?” Beef cautiously asked.

“Look at that,” Etho gestured at the siding on the back of the house. “The wind literally stripped the paint off of it.” 

Beef’s eyes went wide as he noticed what Etho was talking about.

“That’s insane,” he remarked, slowly shaking his head.

“Should we go check out the road?” Etho grimaced as he turned to his bearded friend, who only nodded in return. Living so far out in the country, they had to travel down a county gravel road for two miles to get to the ranch and neither of them had high hopes for the condition of the road. Carefully avoiding broken branches and debris, the two hiked around to the front of the house and up to the end of their driveway. They hadn’t been smiling before, but now they were completely shocked. 

The entire road was covered in branches, fallen trees, and random pieces of debris. Thankfully, no exposed power lines were in the way, but there was still a lot of work to do. There was no way that anyone could drive in these conditions, which meant that Etho and Beef wouldn’t be able to go anywhere for a while. Glancing at each other, they both knew that it would be mostly up to them to clear out the roads like they did in the winter for snow plowing. The county trucks wouldn’t get out to the ranch for days, but they could do some of it themselves.

“So,” Beef sighed after several minutes of awed silence. “I think it’s your turn to drive the truck.”

“Alright,” Etho bit his lip and nodded. “We should get on that as soon as possible.”

After a bit of trial and error, it appeared that using the snow plow attachment on one of their old trucks worked best and the two spent the entire morning getting parts of the road to a mostly drivable condition. At 1 PM, they finally stopped and travelled back to the house. The refrigerator was one of the few electrical appliances running on the generator’s power so their food and water was nice and cold. They were so hungry that they didn’t even bother to plug in the microwave and consumed several leftover hamburgers cold. 

Once their stomachs were full, Etho did some tinkering and managed to get the internet working once again so they could use their phones. According to the news, the city, which was about 30 miles away from their property, hadn’t been hit terribly hard, but the rest of the surrounding country was much like their llama ranch. Power and water weren’t expected to be restored for several days and the county was struggling to get the roads clear. Personally, there was a ridiculous amount of work that needed to be done just on their ranch and it was obvious that they couldn’t get it done by themselves. Together, the two of them came up with a list of things that they needed and sent a message to their friends in the city on their Discord group chat.

**“Hermits” Discord**

**_EthoSlab:_ ** _Hey guys. This is Etho and Beef and as you may know, there was a severe thunderstorm last night. Apparently the city is mostly fine, but things are rough out here in the country. Currently, we don’t have power or running water and it probably won’t turn back on for several days. We’ve managed to get our road partially clear, but we’re going to need a lot of help to clean up things around here. There are tons of branches and trees that need to be cleared from our property and burned. Chainsaws, oil, gas, tool files, spare chains, and people who know how to operate chainsaws would be much appreciated. We also need bottled water and food that doesn’t need to be kept in a fridge. If you want to help, please let us know and we’ll find something for you to do or help with._

Almost instantly, the replies from their friends began streaming in.

**_MumboJumbo:_ ** _Oh my goodness. That’s bananas. Are your llamas okay?_

**_cubfan135:_ ** _So sorry about this whole situation. Totally willing to help with whatever you need._

**_BdoubleO100:_ ** _You guys are in my thoughts and prayers right now. I’m free after 6 every day this week._

**_ZombieCleo:_ ** _I don’t have work today or tomorrow, so I can come down whenever. I’ll bring water, too._

**_ImpulseSV:_ ** _How much of the roads are blocked? Me and Tango can take care of whatver the county can’t get for you guys. We also have two chainsaws that you can use._

**_xBCrafted:_ ** _I was just about to head out to the store and I’ll pick up a few cases of water while there. Will also run to the hardware store, let me know if you need anything model-specific._

**_Stressmonster101:_ ** _I’d be happy to bring over meals and snacks! And homemade cookies!_

**_Iskall85:_ ** _Grian Mumbo and I are off work all week and we’ll help with whatever._

**_xisumavoid:_ ** _Oh no! I’m done with work in a few hours and then I’m free for two days._

There were more messages, but Etho could barely see them because of the tears welling up in his eyes. He leaned his head against Beef’s shoulder and bittersweetly smiled as he wiped the tears away with the back of his hand. His friends were being so kind in the midst of a tough situation and it was an amazing feeling to know that they weren’t alone.

**Author's Note:**

> There was an awful thunderstorm in my area last week, much like the one described here. Thankfully, it wasn’t bad in my town, but places not too far from me were horribly devastated and it’s going to take a long time to get power and water turned back on. I spent some time moving tree branches and helping out people who live in one of the most affected areas and it’s insane to see the damage out there. It’s also insane to see the amount of support and generosity from people who want to help. Whether they get chainsaw parts from hardware stores hours away where they’re actually in stock, donate nonperishable food and water, wash laundry for someone without running water, or spend hours hauling fallen tree branches to burn piles, there are so many helping hands and it makes me tear up thinking about it.  
> The whole situation is kind of weighing on my mind and I’m sorry if this isn’t really what you wanted to read or up to my usual quality. This was just a little thing I wrote one night when I was thinking about it a lot.  
> Thanks for reading and I hope you have a good day!


End file.
